[HANASHIR:5537] Adonai s'fatai tiftakh

[Erik L. F. Contzius <contzius...>]

the phrase "adonai s'fatai tiftakh..." before the t'fillah (not 
before the avot v'imahot... i make a distinction) is printed in 
smaller letters in the siddur because it is one of the few hold-overs 
from the kabbalistic prayerbooks, in which there would be written 
before each rubric of the service a kavanah (the intention) of the 
following prayer. each kavanah would detail what one should be 
concentrating on when praying. the one that made it into the 
mainstream of prayerbooks is this one.

all kavanot were written in first person singular, as it deals with 
an individual kavanah. modern rabbinic authority would have an 
individual recite it "b'lakhash" (in a hushed tone) in order to 
remind oneself of what to consentrate when entering the t'fillah 
section. think of it merely as instruction on what to focus on when 
praying the t'fillah. the line itself is not a prayer.

-- 
Cantor Erik L. F. Contzius
Reform Congregation Keneseth Israel
Elkins Park, PA
contzius (at) home(dot)com
http://www.kenesethisrael.org/

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